REPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. XXX111 



after a heavy rainfall, causing what is generally known as "hog- 

 wallow" prairie. 



While the underlying beds of clay are seemingly identical for the 

 entire Gulf coast, the overlying soil is somewhat different, being more 

 sandy on the eastern and western borders, and more clayey between 

 the Brazos and Nueces rivers. The great fertility of these soils is fully 

 proved, not only by their analyses, but by the actual farming done on 

 them. The fruit farms in the vicinity of Alvin, the " Sugar Bowl " of 

 of the Brazos River (which is in part the weathering of these clays, and 

 in part the river silt deposit), the cotton land of the coast prairie coun- 

 ties between the Brazos and the Nueces rivers, and the sugar belt of 

 the Rio Grande all demonstrate the fact. 



These clays vary considerably in quality, some containing an excess 

 of iron or lime, while others are sufficiently pure for many industrial 

 uses. From them are made all the building brick used in Southern 

 Texas, and some kinds are so refractory as to be used as fire clay^. 

 At Harrisburg they are being manufactured into flower pots and char- 

 coal furnaces, and a closer study of their composition and distribution 

 will probably prove their perfect adaptability to other uses. 



Throughout the whole of this region there is a reasonable certainty 

 of securing a flow of artesian water by boring to a proper depth, and 

 that a comparatively slight one. The rains which fall upon the sandy 

 belt of country (Fayette Beds) which is exposed north of the Coast 

 Clays, are partially absorbed by it and carried under them by its dip. 

 Therefore, when the topographic features are favorable, artesian water 

 will be found. It will, however, be sometimes more or less highly 

 mineralized on account of the various soluble minerals contained in 

 those beds, as is explained hereafter. The artesian wells of Houston, 

 Galveston, Corpus Christi, and other places within the coast prairie 

 country are from these beds, and vary from 150 to over 800 feet in 

 depth. 



TERTIARY. 



FAYETTE BEDS. 



The Coast Clays lie directly upon a great bed of sands, sandstones, 

 and clays, more or less calcareous, which are here designated for con- 

 venience of definition and description "Fayette Beds," from the beau- 

 tiful bluffs just south of La Grange, in Fayette County, where they are 

 well displayed. They occupy the gently rolling country directly ad- 



B* 



